Sometimes, a person sees a plant, animal, or item that the person would like to identify. Also, it is the business of some scientific investigators to identify specific items. For example, it is the work of a herpetologist to identify snakes.
A problem can occur when an individual encounters a snake, and although the individual can determine that the snake has eyes with vertical pupils and that the snake has a rattle on its tail, the individual cannot identify the snake. So, an efficient system or method that assists an individual to identify items is required.
Currently, an individual may have a guidebook, and in the guidebook there may be a key to identify the items studied. If an individual sees a snake and wants to identify the snake, the individual can look at a snake guidebook. In the book, a dichotomy key can require answers to specific questions, such as, “What is the shape of snake's pupil?”, “Is there a rattle on the end of the tail?”, “Does the snake have stripes?” When the user answers each question in the dichotomy key, the answer to each question is linked to an additional question until the snake is identified.
For example, a user may examine a snake, and then look in the appropriate dichotomy key. The first question (A) in FIG. 1 may be related to the ventrals (belly scales). In this example, the user chooses ventrals that are considerably enlarged etc. The key then directs the user to go to question (B). Question (B) requests information about the loreal region. This example shows the snake has a deep pit in the loreal region. The next question (C) is about the tail. Since this example has a rattle, the genus is identified—Crotalus. 
After answering questions and moving from question to question through the dichotomy key, the user should end up with a specific name for the snake. The procedure that was described is the typical format used by a dichotomy key and is how an individual would probably identify a snake, plant, bird, or other item.
Unfortunately, the dichotomy key has many drawbacks. One serious defect is that if a user applies the key, the user must be able to answer each question. For example, if a user is required to select the shape of the ventrals and the user cannot provide the information, then the user cannot continue with the key and cannot identify the snake. The user is at a great disadvantage because the dichotomy key is essentially useless.
Dichotomy keys assume that the user is able to identify specific characteristics of the animal, plant, or item. In real-life situations, the user cannot always ascertain the specific characteristics that the key requires. A user may want to identify a snake that was run over by a car (dead on road—DOR), and the tail of the snake destroyed. If the user uses a dichotomy key, and if one of the queries in the train of logic is to determine if the tail has a rattle, then the user cannot continue with the key and cannot identify the snake.
Another example is in bird watching. If an individual is watching a bird, the user may not be able to recognize the identifying characteristics that a dichotomy key requires. For example, a question in the dichotomy key may be “What is the color of the bird's bill?” If the user is looking at the bird from the back, the user may not be able to determine the color of the bill. Since the answer to the quire cannot be determined, the user cannot continue in the dichotomy logic sequence. The user will not know which question to answer next and cannot determine the identity of the bird.
There is a strong need for a method or system that assists an individual to identify an animal, plant, or item with numerous characteristics that are readily identifiable and can be applied in any order. There should be an ample supply of the alternate characteristics.